Kiama Presbyterian Church is appealing to the public for information after its charity bins were damaged and mattresses were dumped at the Op Shop.

Reverend Andrew Satchell said the two incidents have caused problems and raised the question of whether the church should keep those bins on their property.

“This has been compounded by some attempts over recent months by certain people to break into the charity bins, taking of some items and dumping the rest over the driveway of the church property,” he said.

“This has caused much stress and worry for our op-shop volunteers and for the church.

“We are grateful for the donations that we receive for our Op Shop and we know that Anglicare (who operate the charity bins) are grateful for the clothing donations received through their bins.

“However, the continued dumping of these mattresses and other items as well as the attempts to break into the charity bins, Kiama Presbyterian Church may have to look at increasing our security or having the bins removed all together.”

Rev Satchell said the church would like to continue operating its charity bins but if the incidents continue, they may not have an alternative.

“This is not something we want to consider but for the sake of the safety of our volunteers and other people coming onto the property, as well as the time and expense which takes away from the work of our Op Shop we may have to consider taking this course of action.”

The Op Shop is open 10am-3pm on weekdays and some Saturdays, offering second-hand goods at a reasonable price.

If anyone has any information about the recent incidents, email the church at [email protected].